Nine months after Hurricane Matthew devastated the southern peninsula of Haiti, farmers who have been self-sufficient are now struggling to make ends meet. They have been unable to afford to buy the staples that they once grew in their fields. With the exodus of humanitarian aid, many feel that they have been forgotten by their own government. They are worried about the government’s ability and interest in assisting their recovery from the hurricane that ruined their lives, destroyed their livelihoods and left behind $2.8 billion in damage.

After Hurricane Matthew, many victims in Haiti feel abandoned

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald

July 14, 2017

PLAINE GOMMIERS, HAITI: A feisty Vanette Joseph slowly navigates her way through a field of debris, passing broken branches and other reminders of last year’s devastating 145-mph hurricane before spying one of her few surviving plants.

“All of the lime trees were destroyed,” she says as something catches her eye. She moves in for a closer look.

Much like Hurricane Matthew put a choke-hold on her livelihood, an invasive coiling vine has gotten hold of the lone standing lime tree, and Joseph, 91, isn’t happy. So the determined farmer pushes her eyeglasses on top of her forehead, reaches in and starts pulling.